Is the shaft the most important element of the driver?

[b_diddy746]

I am in the market for a new driver. I really like the D2, but a guy at the Golf Galaxy by me said that a driver head is a driver head. Besides cobra who mills their driver heads. You should pick a head that suits you visually and audibly, and then put your money into a nice shaft. How true is this?? I play with a Speeder shaft right now, and from what i have heard its a pretty good shaft. I am interested in these Diamana shafts, I have heard they perform well... Does anyone have any advice?

[marpr]

  b_diddy746 said:

I am in the market for a new driver. I really like the D2, but a guy at the Golf Galaxy by me said that a driver head is a driver head. Besides cobra who mills their driver heads. You should pick a head that suits you visually and audibly, and then put your money into a nice shaft. How true is this?? I play with a Speeder shaft right now, and from what i have heard its a pretty good shaft. I am interested in these Diamana shafts, I have heard they perform well... Does anyone have any advice?

I disagree:

The shaft's (on any club) sole purpose is > to allow the player to utilise the club the way it was intended to be used. If the correct shaft is fitted, it can makes the difference. You can have a new T'Made R8 club, but if your shaft isn't right, it becomes a $80 knock-off. As they say: the shaft is half the club.

[jcrew]

I think the shaft is the most important part

1. The vast majority of OEM's have done lots of research and testing on their product and would not release too much "garbage." Thus, the differences between most comparable driver heads is NOT a bigger factor than shaft selection. Although some may stand out more than others performance-wise, you are looking at mostly cosmetic, feel, and sound differences.
2. The shafts dictates so much about the result. With the wrong shaft, you can lose distance, lose control, have a ballooning flight, have line drives, have way too much spin, have too little spin, etc etc.

If it came down to it, I would rather pick a shaft that suits my swing and have a randomly selected head put on it VERSUS a head that i chose with a randomly selected shaft on it.

[marpr]

  jcrew said:

I think the shaft is the most important part

very good call. well said.

[fusioncal]

It's funny that the guy said, "You should pick a head that suits you visually and audibly" and didn't not mention anything about performance. This is, however, only half true. Look at driver's head nowadays and notice their shapes, although most have the same slight resemblances (pear-shaped) but know the fact that manufacturers put a lot into research to come up with different mix of materials, welding, inserts, etc to enhance the driver's head performance alone.

Moreover, square shaped driver and triangle shaped driver was introduced few years ago to be more forgiving than the traditional drivers. Although most don't like them, I'm pretty much sure the untraditional shapes aren't here just for variations. Basically every driver head has their own unique characteristics (launch angle, spin, etc) and that translates into performance for different kind of golfers. Meaning a pro may not able to maximize his distance, accuracy, etc using beginner's driver head and vice versa.

Thus, I believe driver's head also plays a role in overall performance not just shaft alone. While to me shaft is on another page just as important. But if put together correctly they make a really great book, if you know what I mean.

[JaY_B]

Of course the head is important, but the shaft does almost everything to your golf shot, shaft is key in your Driver, 3 Wood, Irons, Wedges and also putter.

[egolfs]

If the shaft wasn't that important, why is every major manufacturer scrambling to make use of the USGA (and R&A; I believe) ruling allowing the use of adjusting the shaft in a club head. Nike will have a retail model of their club fitting system by the end of the summer. As I heard on a Podcast with the head of R&D; from UST, shafts are one of the fastest developing technologies in the game, no longer is it just a choice of steel or graphite.

As another poster said "Shafts are just half the club."

[Gapwedge]

Driver heads are important, but just not as important as the shaft selection.
For one, driver heads now come with a closed or draw face, some come with an open face, and some come with a straight face. Those are important things to know.
How well do you know your swing? If you swing with a 2* open clubface at impact and want to straighten out your flight then the 2* closed or draw face would be a good choice. Also, heads come in different degrees of loft. Should you get a 9* or a 10.5* loft?
So, if you are serious about your driver selection I would recommend swinging at a fitter who has a vector analysis machine that can determine club head speed, launch angle at impact, carry distance, and ball spin. You would be surprised at the number of golfers using too little loft in their drivers.
The shaft is the other part of the equation. The shaft will determine how the club feels. It also helps with the trajectory and dispersion. If you have a 4.5* torque and you are spraying the ball everywhere then a 3.5* or lower may be your ideal torque. Shaft weight, shaft length, flex, kick point, and swingweight are all very important in a shaft selection.
Maybe more than you wanted to know or bored you with something you already knew. Sorry.

[TommyD69]

  Gapwedge said:

Driver heads are important, but just not as important as the shaft selection.

Wow... I could not have said that better myself! The only thing I have to add is "The shaft is the engine of the golf club", you want a shaft that WORKS FOR YOU. Don't get caught up in all the hype about COST. Just because a shaft costs $400.00 does not mean it will perform "for you". Use the technology out there and get fitted correctly, that's what the tour players do!